Fòram na Gàidhlig

Hi everyone, I'm a student learning Scottish and I made the sentences below to get a feel of how different English tenses are expressed in Scottish Gaelic. Can someone please check what I've written for accuracy and please explain the ones I got wrong or didn't know. I'm really excited about learning Scottish. Thank you!

1. I speak Scottish.
2. I used to play video games.
3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.
4. Last year he was ill.
5. When his parents built the house, he was ill.
6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again.
7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.
8. I’m reading a book now.
9. I was working while she was studying.
10. I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately).

11. I had been lying there for 3 hrs. before I fell asleep.
12. You will have been eating for 10 min. when I finish.
13. He wants me to go home now.
14. I would buy more food but I’m full now.
15. You are baptized now. ‘passive’
16. You were baptized for 5 min. ‘passive’
17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’
18. I had been baptized 3 times by 2001.
19. I will have been baptized 6 times by 2002.
20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)*
21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*

Scottish:
- tha mi Scots labhairamh
- b’ ábhaist dhomh a’ cluichamh video games
- ith mi cookie cóig mionad ghoirid
- uiridh bha e tinn
- cuin tog a phàrant an teach, bha e tinn
- gan toiseach am bliadhna, bha i tinn ach tha e culadh nis
- chaidh a bhrisamh a chas, sin chan urrainn dha ag eithamh do sgoil
- tha mi a’ leughamh leabhar nis
- bha mi ag obairamh tacan bha i ag ionnsaichamh
- bha mi ag ith ann gus eirmis mi a bha fiolanan aige a’ cistin, sin fàg mi air ball
- laigh mi ann chum tri uair air cadal mi
- tha i ag iarraidhamh a’ dol mi do dachaidh
- cheannaichinn mi tuille biadh ach tha mi làn nis
- tha do air a baistamh nis
- chaidh do a’ bhaistamh do còig mionaid
- chaidh cathair a’ sgriosamh le teine
- chaidh mo a’ bhaistamh tri àman do 2001
- thèid mo a’ bhaistamh sia àman do 2002
- ma ìocainn e dhomh tuille airgead, dh’fhanainn mi ann
- ma bhithinn leòir airgead againn, togainn sinn an teach

Thanks again!

I'll start with the first few, let's see how far I get. Well done over all!

1. I speak Scottish.
- tha mi Scots labhairamh

You are saying you're speaking Scots right now, at this moment. Which language do you mean by Scottish, Gaelic or Scots? I'm assuming Gaelic, so this would be:

Tha mi a' bruidhinn/labhairt anns a' Ghàidhlig

What you probably meant to say is:

Tha Gàidhlig agam - I have Gaelic. Since Gaelic doesn't have a verb "have", you use agam = aig+mi instead

2. I used to play video games.
- b’ ábhaist dhomh a’ cluichamh video games

Almost. With is + something + preposition, the word order changes, and you use a + lenition instead of a'/ag with the verbal noun:

B' àbhaist dhomh video games a chluiche


3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.
- ith mi cookie cóig mionad ghoirid

The past of ith is dh'ith, ago = o chionn, and use the plural of mionaid

Dh'ith mi briosgaid o chionn cóig mionaidean.

If you want to say "I have just eaten a cookie" you can also use:

Tha mi air briosgaid ithe.

Verb/Object word order as in 2.


4. Last year he was ill.
- uiridh bha e tinn

Time expression goes to the end, and last year always goes with an-, just like an-diugh and an-dè etc.

Bha e tinn an-uiridh.

5. When his parents built the house, he was ill.
- cuin tog a phàrant an teach, bha e tinn

Cuine is only for questions, for statements you use nuair. Past of tog is thog, and use the plural of pàrant

Nuair a thog a phàrantan an taigh, bha e tinn


6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again.
- gan toiseach am bliadhna, bha i tinn ach tha e culadh nis

When you have a string of nouns, the last one is in the genitive, and only the last one can have an article with it. gan is aig + posessive pronoun, but you would want aig + article

aig an toiseach
aig toiseach a' bhliadhna

bha i tinn = she was ill

aig toiseach a' bhliadhna, bha e tinn ach tha e gu math a-nis

I think the following would be more natural:

Bha e tinn aig toiseach a' bhliadhna, ach tha e gu math a-nis


7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.
- chaidh a bhrisamh a chas, sin chan urrainn dha ag eithamh do sgoil

Word order as in 2:
Chaidh a chas a bhris(t)eadh

therefore = air an adhbhar sin,
past of chan urrainn do is cha b' urrainnn do
come = tighinn

Word order with chan urrainn dha is as in 2., but since sgoil comes with a preposition you stick it to the end as you have done, and you do away with the a + lenition. I think one would use the article with sgoil as well, but I'm not sure. So, we get:

Chaidh a chas a bhristeadh, agus air an adhbhar sin cha b' urrainn dha tighinn dhan sgoil


8. I’m reading a book now.
- tha mi a’ leughamh leabhar nis

Just a bit of vocabulary:

Tha mi a' leughadh leabhar a-nis


9. I was working while she was studying.
- bha mi ag obairamh tacan bha i ag ionnsaichamh

While = nuair a

Bha mi ag obair nuair a bha i ag ionnsachadh


10. I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately).
- bha mi ag ith ann gus eirmis mi a bha fiolanan aige a’ cistin, sin fàg mi air ball

You could say bha mi ag ithe, but in this context I think it would be better to say "I was taking food".

leave (behing) = fàg
leave (go away) = falbh

Bha mi a' gabhail bidhe an-siud mus do ghabh mi fios gun robh cearnan anns a' chidsin agus dh'fhalbh mi anns a' bhad.

If you want it to be lunch, say:

Bha mi a' gabhail biadh meadhan-latha an-siud mus do ghabh mi fios gun robh cearnan anns a' chidsin agus dh'fhalbh mi anns a' bhad.

Bidhe becomes biadh again, because you can only have one genitive in a string of nouns.

If my explanations have been too concise or too technical, don't hesitate to ask!

Now everybody have at my gammar mistakes!

GunChleoc wrote: 3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.
- ith mi cookie cóig mionad ghoirid

The past of ith is dh'ith, ago = o chionn, and use the plural of mionaid

Dh'ith mi briosgaid o chionn cóig mionaidean.

Don't we leave durations in the singular...? EG "tri bliadhna air ais" -- "three year ago" anns a' Bheurla Gallda.

7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.
- chaidh a bhrisamh a chas, sin chan urrainn dha ag eithamh do sgoil

Word order as in 2:
Chaidh a chas a bhris(t)eadh

That's not "he had broken a leg", that's more "his leg (was/had been) broken"
He had broken his leg = Bha e air a chas a bhristeadh

Níall Beag wrote:

GunChleoc wrote: 3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.
- ith mi cookie cóig mionad ghoirid

The past of ith is dh'ith, ago = o chionn, and use the plural of mionaid

Dh'ith mi briosgaid o chionn cóig mionaidean.

Don't we leave durations in the singular...? EG "tri bliadhna air ais" -- "three year ago" anns a' Bheurla Gallda.

Bliadhna is an exception, presumably for some historic reason I can't remember. Try counting boats... Aon bhàta, dà bhàta, trì bàtaichean

bliadhna historically is already a plural, that's why

Maybe I'm conflating two distinct issues here

Weights and measures weren't traditionally pluralised either, like in Lowland Scots.

Take this from Dwelly's dictionary
mìle -ltean, sf ind Mile. Dà mhìle, two miles; deich mìle, ten miles; mìle shlighe, a mile of road, a mile in lengh; clach-mhìle, a milestone.

In Lowland Scots you'd say things "Aye, he bides ten mile awa", and the plural form "miles" would only be used in a general sense, without a preceeding number.

Now I'm very used to hearing "twa year ago", and maybe I'm overgeneralising because of that....

No, you're both right, it's just that in the case of bliadhna there's an additional historical reasons kicking around.

awesome! any takers for numbers #11 through #21, please?

11. I had been lying there for 3 hrs. before I fell asleep.
- laigh mi ann chum tri uair air cadal mi

I'd use a different tense here: I had been after doing X = Bha mi air X a dhèanamh
The preposition you need is mus + dependent form of the verb

Bha mi air laighe ann an-siud trì uairean (a thìde) mus do chaidil mi.


12. You will have been eating for 10 min. when I finish.

Finish in what sense?

Bidh thu air ithe deich mionaidean (a thìde) nuair a chrìochnaicheas/sguireas mi.


13. He wants me to go home now.
- tha i ag iarraidhamh a’ dol mi do dachaidh

he = e, she = i
dachaigh has a special directional form = dhachaigh
future dependent for a' dol = tèid

Tha e ag iarraidh gun tèid mi dhachaigh a-nis


14. I would buy more food but I’m full now.
- cheannaichinn mi tuille biadh ach tha mi làn nis

tuilleadh + genitive

Cheannaichinn tuilleadh bidhe ach tha mi làn a-nis


15. You are baptized now. ‘passive’
- tha do air a baistamh nis

The possessive pronoun goes before the verbal noun, and you need a personal pronoun after tha

Tha thu air do bhaisteadh a-nis


16. You were baptized for 5 min. ‘passive’
- chaidh do a’ bhaistamh do còig mionaid

Chaidh do bhaisteadh (fad) còig mionaidean (a thìde)


17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’
- chaidh cathair a’ sgriosamh le teine

The tense works like this: Chaidh X air a dhèanamh le/aig Y

Chaidh am baile air a sgrios le teine


18. I had been baptized 3 times by 2001.
- chaidh mo a’ bhaistamh tri àman do 2001

drop the a'
before= ro/roimh + lenition

Chaidh mo bhaisteadh trì tursan ro dhà mhìle 'sa h-aon.


19. I will have been baptized 6 times by 2002.
- thèid mo a’ bhaistamh sia àman do 2002

Thèid mo bhaisteadh sia tursan ro dhà mhìle 'sa dhà.


20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)*
- ma ìocainn e dhomh tuille airgead, dh’fhanainn mi ann

Give money to = thoir airgead do
pay = pàigh ri
tuilleadh + genitive
With the tense we're using here, ma turns into nam/nan

Dh'fhuirichinn nan toireadh e tuilleadh airgid dhomh.

Dh'fhuirichinn nam pàidheadh e rium tuilleadh/a bharrachd.


21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*
- ma bhithinn leòir airgead againn, togainn sinn an teach

-inn is only used with the first person singular:

bhithinn - thogainn
bhiodh tu/e/i - thogadh tu/e/i
bhiomaid - thogamaid
bhiodh sibh/iad - thogadh sibh/iad

Bhiomaid air an taigh a thogail nam biodh airgead gu leòr air a bhith againn

GunChleoc wrote:17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’
- chaidh cathair a’ sgriosamh le teine

The tense works like this: Chaidh X air a dhèanamh le/aig Y

Chaidh am baile air a sgrios le teine

chaidh a sgrios no bha e air a sgrios


cuideachd:

21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*

Nan robh gu leòr airgead againn, bha sinn air an taigh a thogail

Awesome, thanks for the corrections! I went over all the corrections you gave me and I have a couple of questions regarding them.

2. With is + something + preposition, the word order changes, and you use a + lenition instead of a'/ag with the verbal noun:

so ‘cluich’ also adds an ‘-e’ at the end when it is lenited? This is something I have to just memorize by heart right? (i thought lenition meant adding an ‘-h-‘ before the first consonant)

3. use the plural of mionaid

Dh'ith mi briosgaid o chionn cóig mionaidean.
I just have to memorize the plural forms by heart right? There are no rules that govern what specific endings nouns receive right?

Tha mi air briosgaid ithe.

a. this means “i have just eaten” but what grammar pattern is this? (this looks like the alternative passive voice construction but I’m not sure since it has an active voice meaning/tr*nsl*t**n…)
b. what roles does ‘air’ play here? (from my little knowledge of Irish it looks like the reflexive particle but that is totally a guess only…)

6. When you have a string of nouns, the last one is in the genitive,

aig toiseach a' bhliadhna
In my notes I have the following listed regarding the genitive case of nouns:

For the second noun, the one which is in the genitive case:
the masculine article is: a’ + lenition/an/an t the
feminine article is: na

for the masculine noun, how do you know which nouns receive (a’ + lenition OR an OR an t) ??

Bha e tinn aig toiseach a' bhliadhna, ach tha e gu math a-nis

‘gu math’ means ‘good’, right?

7. Chaidh a chas a bhris(t)eadh

I’m confused with ‘bhris(t)eadh’ because it seems like this word is both of what you list in #2 as two separate things. (a + lenition AND (ag/a’) + the verbal noun) ‘a + lenition’ would be ‘a bhris’ and (ag/a’) + lenition would be ‘a’ briseadh’ I’m lost… Also, I don’t what the ‘t’ in parenthesis means…??

past of chan urrainn do is cha b' urrainnn do

a. ‘chan’ and ‘cha’ are the same right? ‘cha urrainn do’ & ‘chan urrainn do’ are the same thing, correct?
b. is (cha b’ urrainn do) the past habitual tense instead of the past tense?

agus air an adhbhar sin cha b' urrainn dha tighinn dhan sgoil

a. ‘tighinn’ is the infinitive of the verb meaning ‘to come’ So, an infinitive is used here in this sentence instead of ‘a + lenition’ or ag/a’ + verbal noun, correct? Is this some kind of grammar rule or does this “just happen” in this particular case?
b. ‘dhan’ means ‘do’ + ‘an’ ? this is another thing I just have to memorize, right?

10. Bha mi a' gabhail bidhe an-siud mus do ghabh mi fios gun robh cearnan anns a' chidsin agus dh'fhalbh mi anns a' bhad.

a. genitive forms of nouns have to be memorized as well, correct? I ask this because I wonder how you got ‘bidhe’ from ‘biadh’…
b. ‘an-siud’ means ‘there’, right?
c. in the past tense of ‘gabh’, ‘do’ is optional, correct?
d. ‘gun robh’ is the affirmative relative past pronoun meaning ‘that’, right?
e. so how do you express ‘there is/are’ in Scottish Gaelic? ‘gun robh cearnan anns a' chidsin’ just means ‘that roach in kitchen’ …? where is the verb here?

I'd use a different tense here: I had been after doing X = Bha mi air X a dhèanamh

a. I don’t see ‘dhèanamh’ in the dictionary…
b. also ‘bha mi + object + ag/a’ + verbal noun’ is the past progressive tense, correct?

11. Bha mi air laighe ann an-siud trì uairean (a thìde) mus do chaidil mi.

‘a thìde’ - what does this mean here? (I know that ‘thìde’ means ‘time’ but…)

The preposition you need is mus + dependent form of the verb

so the dependent form of the verb = ( ‘do’ + the lenited form of the verb + personal pronoun’ )

Bidh thu air ithe deich mionaidean (a thìde) nuair a chrìochnaicheas/sguireas mi.

I think ‘chrìochnaicheas’ comes from ‘crìochnaich’, right? Is ‘chrìochnaicheas’’ the verbal noun of ‘crìochnaich’? ( ‘chrìochnaicheas’ looks like ‘crìochnaich’ plus lenition and ‘-eas’… and ‘sguireas’ looks like ‘sguir’ + ‘-eas’… ) Why is there an ‘a’ before ‘chrìochnaicheas’ ?

Tha e ag iarraidh gun tèid mi dhachaigh a-nis

‘gun’ is a relative pronoun ‘that’ here, right?

18. Chaidh mo bhaisteadh trì tursan ro dhà mhìle 'sa h-aon.

I don’t see ‘tursan’ in the dictionary.

20. Dh'fhuirichinn nam pàidheadh e rium tuilleadh/a bharrachd.

how did you get ‘pàidheadh’ from ‘pàigh’ (it looks like you removed ‘-gh’ and added ‘-dheadh’ but what grammar pattern is that…? )

Dh'fhuirichinn nan toireadh e tuilleadh airgid dhomh.

how did you get ‘toireadh’ from ‘thoir’ (looks like you removed the lenition and added ‘-eadh’ ?? why)

21. Bhiomaid air an taigh a thogail nam biodh airgead gu leòr air a bhith againn

a. ‘Bhiomaid air an taigh a thogail’ -> what grammar pattern is this? (it looks like [conditional of ‘to be’ + ‘air’ + object + lenited verbal noun] ?? )
b. ‘taigh’ means ‘house’ right?
c. I thought ‘biodh’ should be ‘bhiodh’ here… (i thought ‘biodh’ is used in questions and ‘bhiodh’ is used in affirmative/negative statements…?)
d. why is ‘air’ here?
e. what role does ‘a bhith’ play here? ( i know it means ‘to be’ but why is it here?)

Thank you!

just a thought - it would be easier helping you with your questions if you posted them in smaller batches next time, it's a bit hard keeping track with so many piled on top of each other

neoni wrote:

GunChleoc wrote:17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’
- chaidh cathair a’ sgriosamh le teine

The tense works like this: Chaidh X air a dhèanamh le/aig Y

Chaidh am baile air a sgrios le teine

chaidh a sgrios no bha e air a sgrios

Tapadh leat! Dh'ionnsaich mi an dà chuid aig an aon àm is nì mi measgachadh gu tric

OK, I'll start with a few and see how far I get today.

scotlandlove1 wrote:Awesome, thanks for the corrections! I went over all the corrections you gave me and I have a couple of questions regarding them.

2. With is + something + preposition, the word order changes, and you use a + lenition instead of a'/ag with the verbal noun:

so ‘cluich’ also adds an ‘-e’ at the end when it is lenited? This is something I have to just memorize by heart right? (i thought lenition meant adding an ‘-h-‘ before the first consonant)

The verb is cluich, the verbal noun is cluiche. So, the -e has nothing to do with the lenition. The lenited forms are chluich and chluiche, respectively.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

3. use the plural of mionaid

Dh'ith mi briosgaid o chionn cóig mionaidean.
I just have to memorize the plural forms by heart right? There are no rules that govern what specific endings nouns receive right?

Tha mi air briosgaid ithe.

a. this means “i have just eaten” but what grammar pattern is this? (this looks like the alternative passive voice construction but I’m not sure since it has an active voice meaning/tr*nsl*****…)
b. what roles does ‘air’ play here? (from my little knowledge of Irish it looks like the reflexive particle but that is totally a guess only…)

It's an extra tense. There are a few tenses you build with bi + pers pron + preposition (+ object) + (lenited) verbal noun.

Tha mi air cluiche (I am after playing), Tha mi gu cluiche (I am about to play)

scotlandlove1 wrote:

6. When you have a string of nouns, the last one is in the genitive,

aig toiseach a' bhliadhna
In my notes I have the following listed regarding the genitive case of nouns:

For the second noun, the one which is in the genitive case:
the masculine article is: a’ + lenition/an/an t the
feminine article is: na

for the masculine noun, how do you know which nouns receive (a’ + lenition OR an OR an t) ??

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionns ... CG/12.html

scotlandlove1 wrote:

Bha e tinn aig toiseach a' bhliadhna, ach tha e gu math a-nis

‘gu math’ means ‘good’, right?

math means good, gu math means well

scotlandlove1 wrote:

7. Chaidh a chas a bhris(t)eadh

I’m confused with ‘bhris(t)eadh’ because it seems like this word is both of what you list in #2 as two separate things. (a + lenition AND (ag/a’) + the verbal noun) ‘a + lenition’ would be ‘a bhris’ and (ag/a’) + lenition would be ‘a’ briseadh’ I’m lost… Also, I don’t what the ‘t’ in parenthesis means…??

You never get a'/ag + lenition. The a before a lenited verbal noun is a different kind of animal. a + lenited verbal noun function as an infinitive together. a'/ag is a preposition.

When you see a' + lenition, the verbal noun acts as a noun, and the a' is the article. Confused yet?

The (t) means there are two dialectal variants of the word, briseadh and bristeadh. I don't know which one is more common.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

past of chan urrainn do is cha b' urrainnn do

a. ‘chan’ and ‘cha’ are the same right? ‘cha urrainn do’ & ‘chan urrainn do’ are the same thing, correct?
b. is (cha b’ urrainn do) the past habitual tense instead of the past tense?

cha and chan are the same. You say chan before a vowel. Note that lenited f is silent, and if followes by a vowel the word will start in a vowel and you will have to use chan. e.g. chan ith, chan fhaic, cha fhreagairt, cha bhi.

So, you have to say chan urrainn do.

regarding b., it is both, because is only has two forms: is and bu.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

agus air an adhbhar sin cha b' urrainn dha tighinn dhan sgoil

a. ‘tighinn’ is the infinitive of the verb meaning ‘to come’ So, an infinitive is used here in this sentence instead of ‘a + lenition’ or ag/a’ + verbal noun, correct? Is this some kind of grammar rule or does this “just happen” in this particular case?
b. ‘dhan’ means ‘do’ + ‘an’ ? this is another thing I just have to memorize, right?

It's a grammar rule. There are a number of constructions where the word order is different from tha mi a'/ag X, and you drop the a'/ag then.

The pattern is:

Chan urrainn dhomh tighinn - just the verbal noun without anything
Chan urrainn dhomh an airgead a phàigheadh - with an object, the object comes before the verbal noun and you add a+lenition...
Chan urrainn dhom an iasg ithe - ...unless the verbal noun starts with a vowel

b. Correct, dhan = do + article an

scotlandlove1 wrote:

10. Bha mi a' gabhail bidhe an-siud mus do ghabh mi fios gun robh cearnan anns a' chidsin agus dh'fhalbh mi anns a' bhad.

a. genitive forms of nouns have to be memorized as well, correct? I ask this because I wonder how you got ‘bidhe’ from ‘biadh’…
b. ‘an-siud’ means ‘there’, right?
c. in the past tense of ‘gabh’, ‘do’ is optional, correct?
d. ‘gun robh’ is the affirmative relative past pronoun meaning ‘that’, right?
e. so how do you express ‘there is/are’ in Scottish Gaelic? ‘gun robh cearnan anns a' chidsin’ just means ‘that roach in kitchen’ …? where is the verb here?

a. While there are quite a number of irregular genitive forms, there is a general rule.

http://www.akerbeltz.org/beagangaidhlig ... _cases.htm

b. Yes.

c. In the dependent form, you add do, in the independent form you don't.

Ghabh mi e
Cha do ghabh mi e
Thuirt mi nach do ghabh mi e
An do ghabh mi e?
Nach do ghabh mi e?

d. gum/gun is the complementiser that, not the relative pronoun. If you have any German, daß with ß, not das with s. robh is the dependent form of bha.

e. there is X = tha X ann
there was X = bha X ann.

http://www.akerbeltz.org/beagangaidhlig ... ntials.htm

scotlandlove1 wrote:

I'd use a different tense here: I had been after doing X = Bha mi air X a dhèanamh

a. I don’t see ‘dhèanamh’ in the dictionary…
b. also ‘bha mi + object + ag/a’ + verbal noun’ is the past progressive tense, correct?

a. the dictionary form is dèanamh
http://www.foramnagaidhlig.net/index.php?page=23

b. correct, but the syntax is ‘bha mi + ag/a’ + verbal noun + object ’ . And since the verbal noun is a noun, the object goes in the genitive, although this has become a bit lax nowadays.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

11. Bha mi air laighe ann an-siud trì uairean (a thìde) mus do chaidil mi.

‘a thìde’ - what does this mean here? (I know that ‘thìde’ means ‘time’ but…)

Just something I heard people say to mark they're talking about a duration rather than a point in time.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

The preposition you need is mus + dependent form of the verb

so the dependent form of the verb = ( ‘do’ + the lenited form of the verb + personal pronoun’ )

Correct

scotlandlove1 wrote:

Bidh thu air ithe deich mionaidean (a thìde) nuair a chrìochnaicheas/sguireas mi.

I think ‘chrìochnaicheas’ comes from ‘crìochnaich’, right? Is ‘chrìochnaicheas’’ the verbal noun of ‘crìochnaich’? ( ‘chrìochnaicheas’ looks like ‘crìochnaich’ plus lenition and ‘-eas’… and ‘sguireas’ looks like ‘sguir’ + ‘-eas’… ) Why is there an ‘a’ before ‘chrìochnaicheas’ ?

a is the relative pronoun (yipee, another a to confuse you ), chrìochnaicheas is the future relative form. The special relative form only exists in the future, all other tenses use the independent form instead.

http://www.akerbeltz.org/beagangaidhlig ... future.htm

scotlandlove1 wrote:

Tha e ag iarraidh gun tèid mi dhachaigh a-nis

‘gun’ is a relative pronoun ‘that’ here, right?

It's the complementizer that, see above.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

18. Chaidh mo bhaisteadh trì tursan ro dhà mhìle 'sa h-aon.

I don’t see ‘tursan’ in the dictionary.

Plural of turas. The a gets shortened away.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

20. Dh'fhuirichinn nam pàidheadh e rium tuilleadh/a bharrachd.

how did you get ‘pàidheadh’ from ‘pàigh’ (it looks like you removed ‘-gh’ and added ‘-dheadh’ but what grammar pattern is that…? )

Typo - should be pàigheadh. I sometimes mix them up, beause you pronounce gh and dh the same.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

Dh'fhuirichinn nan toireadh e tuilleadh airgid dhomh.

how did you get ‘toireadh’ from ‘thoir’ (looks like you removed the lenition and added ‘-eadh’ ?? why)

Toir is an irregular verb, you just have to know.
It follows the general rule though for sticking -adh at the end of a verb for the conditional/habitual tense or however you want to call that animal. For the independent form, add lenition. Only in this case, the independent form is bheireadh, because it's an irregular verb. For a regular verb, it looks like this:

cuir (imperative/dictionary form) -> cuireadh (dep.) -> chuireadh (indep.)

So: chuireadh, gun cuireadh, bug cha chuireadh again, because cha lenites.

scotlandlove1 wrote:

21. Bhiomaid air an taigh a thogail nam biodh airgead gu leòr air a bhith againn

a. ‘Bhiomaid air an taigh a thogail’ -> what grammar pattern is this? (it looks like [conditional of ‘to be’ + ‘air’ + object + lenited verbal noun] ?? )
b. ‘taigh’ means ‘house’ right?
c. I thought ‘biodh’ should be ‘bhiodh’ here… (i thought ‘biodh’ is used in questions and ‘bhiodh’ is used in affirmative/negative statements…?)
d. why is ‘air’ here?
e. what role does ‘a bhith’ play here? ( i know it means ‘to be’ but why is it here?)

a. The same as the air form above, only that bi is in a different tense: bhiodh instead of tha

b. yep.

c. nam/nan is followed by the dependent form, unlike ma.

d. see a.

e. That's what happenes if you add the progressive to a., I think. Akerbeltz has corrected this to a different tense anyway.

Made it, just hope not too many typos and I didn't mess up the quote tags

The verb is cluich, the verbal noun is cluiche. So, the -e has nothing to do with the lenition. The lenited forms are chluich and chluiche, respectively.

so it’s more like:
2. With is + something + preposition, the word order changes, and you use a + lenited verbal noun instead of a'/ag with the regular verbal noun:

Tha mi air cluiche (I am after playing)

huh? “i am after playing” -> this doesn’t make sense in English…

d. gum/gun is the complementiser that, not the relative pronoun.

what is a ‘complementiser’ ?

It's an extra tense.

so the extra tense is:
‘tha’ + pers pron + ‘air’ + object + verbal noun = “to have just done something” , correct?

a. While there are quite a number of irregular genitive forms, there is a general rule.

http://www.akerbeltz.org/beaga....._cases.htm
I think I’d rather memorize them by heart. That page is a bit confusing.

very informative corrections BTW!